Bringing you yesterday's news from Japan and Asia, today.
Global (Page 36)
After receiving rave reviews for last year’s model, the Xperia Tablet Z, Sony has refreshed its flagship with a sleek waterproof design that’s just a hair thinner than the last.
It’s even just slightly thinner and lighter than the iPad Air.
Packed with a high-resolution screen and great battery life, the Z2 Tablet is among the best Android tablets you can buy today, although it doesn’t feel quite as premium as the iPad.
Windows Phone is still a distant third to Apple and Android in the smartphone market, but Microsoft is hoping to change that with the introduction of Windows Phone 8.1— and more importantly its personal digital assistant Cortana.
Microsoft claims that Cortana isn’t like your average virtual assistant. She’s supposed to be a little wittier, more personable, and capable of learning more about you than Siri or Google Now.
After using Cortana for a week and speaking with Microsoft’s Marcus Ash, Partner Group program manager, it’s clear that the company’s got a lot riding on the success of its new virtual assistant.
From Hello Kitty to the ubiquitous cat cafes, it’s no secret to our readers that Japan loves cats. Despite their tendency to view us humans as their own personal servants, we can’t seem to get enough of their fluffy cuteness and sometimes ridiculous antics. Whenever you need to smile, a silly cat video will usually do the trick.
So why not repay your cat by ensuring its healthy lifestyle? For starters, you can reevaluate your cat’s diet by checking out this list we’ve compiled of five at-a-glance foods that you should never feed to your pet. Maybe your kitty will thank you for your concern with even more purring and nuzzles (and no dead mice!).
Movoto, one of America’s biggest real estate agents, doesn’t just list property, it also has a blog and, more importantly, a very good sense of humour. A few months ago, the site treated manga and anime fans to a tour of Naruto Uzumaki’s house (on the market for just $100,000), but this week they have something special for gamers – the house that used to belong to Aerith from Final Fantasy VII.
If you’re interested in buying the property, though, we hope you’re feeling flush. With 1,176 square feet of floor space and the honour of being “the nicest house in Sector 5”, Aerith’s house is listed for nearly US$2 million, or 37,726,080 Gil to be exact.
Joe Dixon is Chief Learning Officer of Teq, a professional development company for teachers that aims to “champion the continued evolution of the modern classroom.” Lately that means getting lots of robots into the hands of schoolkids.
Specifically, Teq is bringing the NAO robot, a small humanoid from Aldebaran Robotics, into the classroom for educational applications. The bot is already in widespread use as a development platform for roboticists, and Teq leads weeklong school programs geared for students of all ages in getting the robot to do interesting things.
“Forget the reactor. Forget all the bull$#!^ Facebook posts about how radiation is melting the starfish and mutating our sushi. Forget about what it means to be a disaster, and discover what it means to be Fukushima.”
Filmmaker Cameron Anderson is on a mission to show the world the real Fukushima. Having spend months exploring the region, he – an outsider arriving long after Fukushima became known the world over as the centre of a tragic nuclear accident – has come to learn what Japan’s third-largest prefecture is really all about. Cameron has also seen how the news, careless comments shared via social networks, and a general fear of the unknown have caused people around the globe to label this land as a giant, black spot on the map of Japan, with stories popping up online every few weeks about tides of non-existent radioactive seawater and the prefecture’s potentially hazardous exports.
Hoping to obtain a special filmmaking grant, it is Cameron’s plan to put together a 10-minute documentary that explores this vast, rich part of Japan and introduce some of its genuinely remarkable residents–both Japanese and foreign. But he needs your help.
Glitzy Ginza is a high-end shopping district in Tokyo that attracts luxury brand flagship stores, ladies who lunch, and businesspeople with cash to burn. But if you happen to be there this week, you might spot something very incongruous in this moneyed mecca: a Maasai tribesman selling shoes.
William hails from Kenya, where he is the head of a Maasai tribe, and the shoes he is here to promote are a Spanish brand called Pikolinos. So how did an African tribesman end up in the Japanese capital selling European shoes?
Real-life Barbie Valeria Lukyanova, regular fixture of blogs worldwide, has caused another stir, but this time it’s not because she’s said something offensive or downright ridiculous. After making virtual waves with her outrageous makeup, fashion, and philosophy, Valeria’s now making a splash by taking it all off.
They kill scores of people annually around the world. They have no motive or ideology and can’t be reasoned with, and yet we rely on them every day because stairs are a real pain.
I’m talking of course about escalators and elevators which caused nearly 300 deaths in the USA in the 90s and injured over 700 Koreans in the past five years leaving 50 for dead. Still with all this carnage the human race continues to embrace these death traps simply because they can get us to other floors quickly.
Not any more, says South Korea’s Ministry of Security and Public Administration (MOSPA), which has created the Elevator and Escalator Safety Division.
As many of our readers are well aware, the powerful and spiky-haired Goku from Akira Toriyama’s manga and anime series Dragon Ball is one of the most recognizable icons of Japanese culture not just in Japan but across the world. Since the manga first appeared in the magazine Weekly Shōnen Jump in 1984, Goku’s entourage and family have grown to include an impressive number of unique and memorable characters. It so happens, however, that in all that time, we have never seen Goku’s mother in any of the stories — until now.
Yes, Dragon Ball fans were delighted with the news earlier this month that Goku’s mother would be making an appearance for the first time in the 30-year history of the series in the new comic by Toriyama, Jaco the Galactic Patrolman. Now that the comic has been released, we’ve finally been able to come face to face with the mother of the superhero we’ve come to know so well, and we think she’s a real cutie! Ladies and gentlemen, meet Gine, wife to the Saiyan warrior Bardock, and of course, Goku’s mom.
Long before we had color television, microwave ovens, mobile phones and the all-mighty Internet, many things had to be done manually and took more time and effort to accomplish. While you may be reading RocketNews24 on your computer or mobile gadget now, the latest news and information used to be only available on handwritten sheets many moons ago.
In many cases, improvement and changes to traditional methods bring greater convenience to the masses, but gone with the olden ways of things are fascinating jobs that once existed to make life easier for the people of their era. How do you think people woke up on time for work before alarm clocks were invented?
As we’ve said before, Japanese isn’t actually as hard to learn as it’s often made out to be. Unlike English, for example, Japanese follows its own grammatical rules far more rigidly, pronunciation is easy because there is only one variant of each vowel sound to choose from (none of this tomayto/tomahto business), and it’s possible to create entire, perfectly meaningful and valid sentences without uttering a single pronoun or bothering to conjugate a verb.
Nevertheless, the language will not magically seep into you through a desire to speak it alone — you still need to encounter and study it as often as possible. With that in mind, we’d like to present to you the six and a half resources that no dedicated student of the Japanese language should ever be without. Oh, and the good news is some of them are completely free.
Cherry blossom season may now be over in Tokyo, and yes, each year we find ourselves wishing the magnificent pale pink flowers would last longer than a week, but luckily we’ve found a flower-themed video so spectacular, it just might be enough to make us forget the passing of the cherry blossoms.
The video is actually a commercial from Sony advertising their 4K Ultra HD TV, and it features such a massive amount of flowers in an unbelievable array of dazzling colors that you’ll find it hard to believe that the images aren’t computer generated. See the stunning images and colors for yourself in the video below!
After releasing a critical dud last fall with its first major smartwatch release, the Galaxy Gear, Samsung surprised a lot of folks in the industry when it announced an attractive new entrant into the wearable computing category, the Gear Fit, just a few months later.
We’ve previously seen Japan’s amazing cat islands and rabbit island, and today, we’re excited to show you yet another animal wonderland, though this time it’s not in Japan!
An uninhabited island, Big Major Cay, located in Exuma of the Bahamas, is home to what are arguably the world’s happiest pigs! More commonly known as Pig Island or Pig Beach by the locals, this tropical getaway is famous for none other than its adorable swimming pigs!
The first volume of Hajime Isayama‘s Attack on Titan ranked #5 on Nielsen BookScan’s list of top 20 graphic novel sales in March, followed by volume 2 at #7, volume 3 at #15, and volume 11 at #19.
I personally never really understood where the stereotype that women are bad at map-reading comes from. When most of the women in my life are more composed, logical, and organised than I or any of the guys I know, it seems odd that girls should be known as poor navigators.
If you do happen to be female and utterly hopeless with maps, though, a recent study suggests that you might benefit from playing video games more often, with findings suggesting that those who regularly pick up a controller have a better sense of direction and get lost less often.
It’s April Fool’s Day, which means that plenty of anime companies are having a good chuckle with fake announcements, quirky crossovers, and more. Here’s Part 1 of our round-up; check back later in the day for more!
It’s no secret that you can buy whale meat in Japan. It’s served in schools to young children and even offered up 16 different ways at this shop in Tokyo. In fact, the Japanese have had a history of whaling that dates back to the 12th century. In recent history, however, Japan’s whaling program has been condemned by the international community and its practice of consuming whale meat proven unhealthy. But both whaling and the eating of whale meat, whether you agree with it or not, may be a thing of the past as a result of a recent ruling by the International Court of Justice.
Ramen restaurant etiquette reminder follows altercation with angry couple: One person, one bowl
Studio Ghibli showcases traditional craftsmanship with new wallet range
Miniature keychain versions of Japan’s Death Spray are coming to capsule toy machines soon
Japanese company develops classy heavy metal band frames for glasses
New smartphone game turns car models into anime girls with model-worthy looks
Muji Ginza’s freshly baked bread is our new favorite thing
The best Christmas Market in Japan? Yokohama event is top choice for travellers
Japanese government will check and judge new baby name pronunciations, presents guidelines
Kura Sushi has a new parade-delivered whole cake dessert, but what’s it like to eat?【Video】
Maiko beauty secrets: Skincare tips from Japan’s apprentice geisha
This downtown Tokyo cafe is like a time machine that takes you back 50 years into the past
Station of despair: What to do if you get stuck at the end of Tokyo’s Chuo Rapid LineJapanese company develops classy heavy metal band frames for glassesStudio Ghibli showcases traditional craftsmanship with new wallet range
Major Japanese city is abolishing extracurricular activities at all of its middle schoolsJapanese government will check and judge new baby name pronunciations, presents guidelines
Shakey’s is back! All-you-can-eat pizza chain returns to downtown Tokyo’s Shinjuku
Japanese train station vending machine has the best souvenirs for rail otaku
Starbucks Japan releases a new Frappuccino that looks and tastes like a floral bouquet
One of Japan’s rarest sweets is a sell-out hit that looks and tastes like frost
Possessing Harry Potter’s Sword of Godric Gryffindor is now illegal in Japan
Uniqlo announces first-ever collaboration with horror manga master Junji Ito【Photos】
J-pop mega star Ado reveals she’s been living in the U.S., may not understand language acquisition
Starbucks Japan is calling it quits with paper straws
Japan’s most popular castle raising ticket prices by up to 200 percent for non-local tourists
Furikake rice seasoning sales are soaring, which is bad news for Japan as a wholeJapanese company develops classy heavy metal band frames for glassesThis downtown Tokyo cafe is like a time machine that takes you back 50 years into the past
Studio Ghibli heroine cardigans give you warmth and strength to face everyday challenges
Eight unforgettable hot springs, as recommended by Japan’s “Professor Bath”
McDonald’s new Happy Meals offer up cute and practical Sanrio lifestyle goods
Foreign tourists on Shinkansen bullet train break suitcase etiquette, angering local passengersPossessing Harry Potter’s Sword of Godric Gryffindor is now illegal in Japan
[Deleted] Article written for April Fool’s Day 2018
Japanese government to make first change to romanization spelling rules since the 1950s
Foreigner’s request for help in Tokyo makes us sad for the state of society
Japanese convenience store Family Mart announces abolishment of eat-in spaces
Life-size vibrating Legend of Zelda Master Sword for sale from Nintendo【Photos】
Princesses, fruits, and blacksmiths: Study reveals the 30 most unusual family names in Japan
Studio Ghibli releases free-download board game — Here’s how to play it without reading Japanese
Muji Ginza’s freshly baked bread is our new favorite thing
The best Christmas Market in Japan? Yokohama event is top choice for travellers
Japanese government will check and judge new baby name pronunciations, presents guidelines
Kura Sushi has a new parade-delivered whole cake dessert, but what’s it like to eat?【Video】
Maiko beauty secrets: Skincare tips from Japan’s apprentice geisha
This downtown Tokyo cafe is like a time machine that takes you back 50 years into the past
Nakano Broadway sells a fukubukuro lucky bag for foreigners, but is it a good deal or a scam?
Evangelion creator Hideaki Anno wants to make a live-action Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind
The Pokémon Mister Donut lucky bag is even better than we’d hoped!【Photos】
Tokyo’s Super Mario Christmas decoration displays are super cool【Photos】
Tokyo’s first “breast slash” cafe is opening soon
Death Spray from Japan causes buzz online for powerful ability to cut ties with bad energy
New Hello Kitty and friends summer kimono are perfect for Sanrio-loving parents, kids, and sisters
Four “forbidden” super-easy Japanese toast desserts to make and eat ASAP【Recipes】
